CNN counting just enough white faces on crashed airliner to warrant live coverage

ATLANTA — CNN associate producer Janelle Kalb, who has been closely following breaks in the story of EgyptAir Flight 804 — which crashed in the Mediterranean Sea early Wednesday morning while en route from Paris to Cairo — believes that there might have been just enough white faces on board to warrant live coverage on the 24-hour news network.

“We don’t yet have confirmation exactly how many white faces were on that doomed flight, because some of the European victims might indeed be of Egyptian or otherwise African origin, but my estimate is six or seven out of a total of 56 passengers,” she reported to CNN executive producer Cameron Newton, who has the final say on programming.

“I’ve got a whole team ready to put together photo montages of white faces pulled from the social media profiles of white victims as soon as a passenger list is released by Egyptian authorities,” she said.

“We’ve sent reporters to the airport in Cairo, where the plane was supposed to have landed, in hopes of finding some weeping white faces who might confirm our calculations, but so far it’s pure madness there,” she added. “And some grieving family members are so frightened and pale, it’s hard to tell which color they are.”

“Screw it, let’s go to live coverage,” Newton said. “In this business, you’ve got to take some calculated risks.”